Macworld 2008: Some software and audio odds and ends

Some MacWorld miscellany, beginning with four operating-system/software entries:

Improvements to MS Office. I said earlier in the week I'd say something about the new MS Office 2008. The features are more or less in parity with the Office 2007 product that's been out for a year, now. Entourage plays better with Exchange Server, to address concerns about corporate distribution, and I was assured by the lead developer for Word08 that the "Normal" file, a file that holds all of your custom stylesheets translates fully from older versions. The only other thing to note here is that with Office08, virtually every major Mac application suite has made the transition to Universal Binary code base and is Intel-native. That means there's no longer any need for Rosetta, the built-in code translator between G5 Mac processors and Intel Windows processors.

A new Windows on Mac option. Another interesting entry in the "virtualization" competition comes from Codeweavers, who were demoing their "Crossover" product. Crossover allows someone who wants to switch to Mac and still protect their Windows software investment to actually install and run their legacy Windows programs natively in OS X; no virtual disk image or Windows OS is required. The downside is that this capability has to be customized by Codeweavers for each legacy Windows application. Consequently, the company has concentrated on a limited list of only the most used Windows apps to date, like MS Office, Access, Visio, etc. (You'll find the list of supported apps at https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/.) The result is very fast and responsive. If you use those apps, this could be of real value.

Organize your computer as you do... your mind. Meanwhile, in the world of software, Personal Brain claims to be the "operating system for your mind". Instead of organizing information in hierarchical folders and file systems, the way the computer likes to do it, Personal Brain 4 organizes your idea, files, websites, etc., in a way that captures how you yourself think, using a hub-and-spoke linkage system.

The new location feature explained. From the "How do they do that?" department:  One of the new features touted for the iPhone/iPod Touch software suite released last Tuesday (free for iPhone owners; a $20 upgrade for Touch owners) the was a maps feature which found your location, then offered street by street directions to your destination. As iPhone and iPod touch do not support GPS technology, how can it determine your location? This is a combined effort of two partners: Google Maps, and Skyhook Wireless. Unbeknownst to many, Google has been quietly mapping the locations of every cell tower in most urban areas. Skyhook has been doing the same thing with wireless hotspots. Together, they find the three nearest towers/hotspots, and triangulate on your signal to get a close approximation of your position. Not as precise as GPS, perhaps, but certainly close enough for you to find out where you are. You can also get directions from your present location to any other—say, that new restaurant you were trying to find when you got lost.

Finally, two audio entries:

Programmed napping music. It has been claimed—especially by the folks at MetroNaps—that napping during the day not only improves alertness, mood ad productivity, it lowers your risk of heart disease by 37% (Trichopoulos, Harvard School of Public Health, 2007). To prove their point, MetroNaps set up a half dozen custom napping stations (called "Energy Pods") in Moscone West and took appointments for 20-minute test naps. Their entire slate was booked in no time flat. The company has partnered with Pzizz, a maker of relaxation software, to provide background tracks for your snoozing. Pzizz takes a selection of relaxation tracks, including vocal selections, breaks them down into the smallest useable chunks, and then reassembles them into custom "plays" that can run from 10 to 90 minutes. Thus, every listening experience is said to be unique, according to the company. The programs are available for both Mac and PC, starting at $29.95.

A personal concert experience. Absolutely the most fun I had at Macworld this year had to be a concert by Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Tommy Shaw of Styx (shawblades.com). They performed an acoustic set of about 90 minutes in front of an intimate crowd. The hook? Everyone in the audience was wearing wireless AKG K920 pro headphones. The result was a cross between being with the musicians in the recording studio and in their living room. It was an amazing experience. They were showcasing the technology, in order to announce that AKG will soon be expanding it to the consumer market. Here's a link to übergizmo.com which has some images from the event. There's also a short video of the performance on YouTube. (Skip to the last 4 minutes or so.)

—Thomas A. Olson